Collis claims behind-the-scenes maneuvering over mill site fate

Published: Friday, September 27, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.

Hendersonville City Councilman Jeff Collis says a behind-the-scenes effort to influence the future of the Grey Hosiery Mill property has become a factor in the upcoming municipal election.

Collis, who is running for re-election, claims a businessman backing mayoral candidate Ron Stephens and council candidate Jeff Miller wants council to withdraw its support of a development plan approved in June.

By a 3-2 vote, City Council accepted the proposal of Robert Englander to transform the 1915 Grey Hosiery Mill into an expanded campus for Wingate University. Council members Stephens and Steve Caraker voted against Englander’s plan and expressed interest in a proposal by White Challis Redevelopment Co. to renovate the mill into a mixed-use residential historic center with 34 loft-style apartments and room for commerce and Wingate.

The board gave Englander 90 days to secure a deal with the university. He is set to appear before the board again in October, Collis said.

Council members suspect Englander’s arrangement with Wingate may have fizzled, but the White Challis plans may be resurrected for a new vote on the building’s future in the next few months. The local man behind the White Challis deal — historic-property developer Jim Hall — makes Collis nervous.

Collis says Hall has vowed to unseat those who did not support the plan presented by White Challis and wants to change the council’s composition to bring the proposal into favor. He said Hall is now a campaign adviser to Stephens and Miller — a title Hall denied.

Hall said the only thing he has done for the two candidates is stake signs for them in the yards of his properties in the city.

Collis says some of those properties are “dilapidated.”

“It’s been a long recession for developers,” Hall said Thursday, admitting that the commercial properties he co-owns with two out-of-town partners have been particularly hard to move in the sluggish economy.

Hall said that he and his partners, Hunting Creek Associates, have completed 15 historic renovations in the city over the past 17 years. A few of them have been on Main Street, including the former Houston Furniture shop next to the Mast General Store, which now houses the Team ECCO Aquarium, among other tenants.

Mill building

Hall backs a renewed proposal from White Challis, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., to transform the former mill building into a mixed-use urban oasis where people can live, shop, work and maybe even learn. He says the property can bring the city a minimum of $35,000 a year in real estate taxes.

“His group hasn’t offered us anything for (the building) except tax dollars” after the tenants arrive, Collis said, adding he would “never vote for a project” involving Hall and the mill building. An earlier proposal from White Challis was eventually scrapped when the council expressed interest in a conference center at the site.

Stephens predicts the current Wingate plan will “not go through” and suspects a vote on White Challis may come back up again in a few months.

“If it comes up again I will vote for it,” he said. “I think it would be wonderful to have apartments there because it would bridge Main Street and Seventh Avenue... increase business for downtown... and increase taxes for the city.”

He said Wingate has already leased a floor at HomeTrust Bank, across the street from the school’s campus on Fifth Avenue, to accommodate its overflow.

Although Stephens said Hall is a friend, he “is not my campaign adviser” — a sentiment shared by Miller.

“Jim Hall has been a friend of mine for a long time,” Miller said, but added Hall “has not contributed a penny to my campaign.”

Hall’s name does not appear as a donor to the campaigns of any City Council candidates, according to records from the Henderson County Board of Elections.

Miller says he is vaguely familiar with the proposals for the former mill building and does not know which one would get his ultimate vote.

“Any proposal that I would look at, in my opinion, would be just based on the merit for how good it would be for the city,” he said. “I certainly have not had my arm twisted to go for it.”

He hopes something good will come out of the property, which has stood vacant for a quarter of a century and has fallen into major disrepair.

“They need to do something,” he said. “My reputation pretty much stands for itself... I have not had one business ask me to do anything for them when this is all said and done. I have said I would be a gentleman in this campaign and that’s what I intend to do.”

Miller said he is “very disappointed” that Collis “would lower himself to making accusations like this of any misconduct, or that anybody’s trying to manipulate me.”

The accusation Collis has made, Stephens said, “is a distraction from the issues, and we should stick to the issues.”

Collis said he, too, would like to stick to the issues after being called out by his opposition as being “anti-business.”

“My whole issue here is, let’s be upfront and let’s be completely transparent about what we’re wanting to do,” he said.

Facebook

The controversy has led to heated exchanges between Collis and Stephens, with Stephens issuing a statement condemning a Facebook post by Collis.

On Tuesday, Stephens said in a news release that his fellow councilman “has lowered the campaign with an attack on me using information that is not true.”

In the release, Stephens said Collis recently posted on Facebook that Collis fought against a city-centered high-rise apartment supported by Stephens years ago, and warned citizens that a new threat “is wanting to dismantle the city in an upcoming election.”

Stephens responded, “I was not on City Council... when the ‘high rise condo building’ was approved. Second, I have never sung the praises of the gentleman who was trying to develop the condo building... Third, I never supported the ‘high condos’ for several reasons. In addition to the height of the building not being appropriate for historic Hendersonville, the developer was asking for several variances, e.g. there was no sidewalk on the King Street side, there was only one entrance, so the trash cans had to be next to the building entrance, there was a lack of enough parking; etc.”

Collis said he stands by his statement, agreeing that Stephens was no longer on council when the vote on the “high-rise” was taken.

“I wasn’t attacking him, I was just making a statement that he was singing the praises of the high-rise,” he said, which, he added, came out when Stephens was running for mayor that year.

“I heard Ron (Stephens) mention that several times, that the project from what he saw looked good” in campaign forums. “He said what he said then and he can own it,” Collis said.

<p>Hendersonville City Councilman Jeff Collis says a behind-the-scenes effort to influence the future of the Grey Hosiery Mill property has become a factor in the upcoming municipal election.</p><p>Collis, who is running for re-election, claims a businessman backing mayoral candidate Ron Stephens and council candidate Jeff Miller wants council to withdraw its support of a development plan approved in June.</p><p>By a 3-2 vote, City Council accepted the proposal of Robert Englander to transform the 1915 Grey Hosiery Mill into an expanded campus for Wingate University. Council members Stephens and Steve Caraker voted against Englander's plan and expressed interest in a proposal by White Challis Redevelopment Co. to renovate the mill into a mixed-use residential historic center with 34 loft-style apartments and room for commerce and Wingate.</p><p>The board gave Englander 90 days to secure a deal with the university. He is set to appear before the board again in October, Collis said.</p><p>Council members suspect Englander's arrangement with Wingate may have fizzled, but the White Challis plans may be resurrected for a new vote on the building's future in the next few months. The local man behind the White Challis deal — historic-property developer Jim Hall — makes Collis nervous.</p><p>Collis says Hall has vowed to unseat those who did not support the plan presented by White Challis and wants to change the council's composition to bring the proposal into favor. He said Hall is now a campaign adviser to Stephens and Miller — a title Hall denied.</p><p>Hall said the only thing he has done for the two candidates is stake signs for them in the yards of his properties in the city.</p><p>Collis says some of those properties are “dilapidated.”</p><p>“It's been a long recession for developers,” Hall said Thursday, admitting that the commercial properties he co-owns with two out-of-town partners have been particularly hard to move in the sluggish economy. </p><p>Hall said that he and his partners, Hunting Creek Associates, have completed 15 historic renovations in the city over the past 17 years. A few of them have been on Main Street, including the former Houston Furniture shop next to the Mast General Store, which now houses the Team ECCO Aquarium, among other tenants.</p><p><b>Mill building</b></p><p>Hall backs a renewed proposal from White Challis, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., to transform the former mill building into a mixed-use urban oasis where people can live, shop, work and maybe even learn. He says the property can bring the city a minimum of $35,000 a year in real estate taxes.</p><p>“His group hasn't offered us anything for (the building) except tax dollars” after the tenants arrive, Collis said, adding he would “never vote for a project” involving Hall and the mill building. An earlier proposal from White Challis was eventually scrapped when the council expressed interest in a conference center at the site.</p><p>Stephens predicts the current Wingate plan will “not go through” and suspects a vote on White Challis may come back up again in a few months.</p><p>“If it comes up again I will vote for it,” he said. “I think it would be wonderful to have apartments there because it would bridge Main Street and Seventh Avenue... increase business for downtown... and increase taxes for the city.”</p><p>He said Wingate has already leased a floor at HomeTrust Bank, across the street from the school's campus on Fifth Avenue, to accommodate its overflow.</p><p>Although Stephens said Hall is a friend, he “is not my campaign adviser” — a sentiment shared by Miller.</p><p>“Jim Hall has been a friend of mine for a long time,” Miller said, but added Hall “has not contributed a penny to my campaign.”</p><p>Hall's name does not appear as a donor to the campaigns of any City Council candidates, according to records from the Henderson County Board of Elections.</p><p>Miller says he is vaguely familiar with the proposals for the former mill building and does not know which one would get his ultimate vote.</p><p>“Any proposal that I would look at, in my opinion, would be just based on the merit for how good it would be for the city,” he said. “I certainly have not had my arm twisted to go for it.”</p><p>He hopes something good will come out of the property, which has stood vacant for a quarter of a century and has fallen into major disrepair.</p><p>“They need to do something,” he said. “My reputation pretty much stands for itself... I have not had one business ask me to do anything for them when this is all said and done. I have said I would be a gentleman in this campaign and that's what I intend to do.”</p><p>Miller said he is “very disappointed” that Collis “would lower himself to making accusations like this of any misconduct, or that anybody's trying to manipulate me.”</p><p>The accusation Collis has made, Stephens said, “is a distraction from the issues, and we should stick to the issues.”</p><p>Collis said he, too, would like to stick to the issues after being called out by his opposition as being “anti-business.”</p><p>“My whole issue here is, let's be upfront and let's be completely transparent about what we're wanting to do,” he said.</p><p><b>Facebook</b></p><p>The controversy has led to heated exchanges between Collis and Stephens, with Stephens issuing a statement condemning a Facebook post by Collis.</p><p>On Tuesday, Stephens said in a news release that his fellow councilman “has lowered the campaign with an attack on me using information that is not true.”</p><p>In the release, Stephens said Collis recently posted on Facebook that Collis fought against a city-centered high-rise apartment supported by Stephens years ago, and warned citizens that a new threat “is wanting to dismantle the city in an upcoming election.”</p><p>Stephens responded, “I was not on City Council... when the 'high rise condo building' was approved. Second, I have never sung the praises of the gentleman who was trying to develop the condo building... Third, I never supported the 'high condos' for several reasons. In addition to the height of the building not being appropriate for historic Hendersonville, the developer was asking for several variances, e.g. there was no sidewalk on the King Street side, there was only one entrance, so the trash cans had to be next to the building entrance, there was a lack of enough parking; etc.”</p><p>Collis said he stands by his statement, agreeing that Stephens was no longer on council when the vote on the “high-rise” was taken.</p><p>“I wasn't attacking him, I was just making a statement that he was singing the praises of the high-rise,” he said, which, he added, came out when Stephens was running for mayor that year.</p><p>“I heard Ron (Stephens) mention that several times, that the project from what he saw looked good” in campaign forums. “He said what he said then and he can own it,” Collis said.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>